Wednesday, November 17, 2010

JC's Take: WWE Survivor Series Preview

JC's Take: WWE Survivor Series Preview

Hello everyone. Welcome back for my preview of Survivor Series this Sunday. This PPV used to be unique. It used to have anywhere between 3-5 tag team elimination matches. All of the superstars in the matches usually had some kind of beef with each other. But for some reason, Vince McMahon seems to think that those kind of matches don't draw anything. They would if the WWE decided not to have Bragging Rights a month before Survivor Series. Three or four unique interbrand matches would be fun on this PPV. Instead, SS (it's easier to abbreviate it sometimes) is now just another normal PPV with no uniqueness to it.

Here is my preview! (WARNING! The first previewed match has not been announced yet, the second contains a Smackdown spoiler.)

This match is being advertised locally at ticketmaster locations. It would make sense after their interaction on RAW this past Monday. The two had a pretty good short match a couple weeks ago, so they should be able to put on a decent match here. DiBiase attacked Bryan after his match on RAW Monday. Apparently he's done coveting the Million Dollar Belt, and now wants to become U.S. Champion. At least this gives these two something to do. Bryan is too good to be left off of a PPV, and DiBiase is a young star who could use the PPV exposure. DiBiase is still lacking in the promo department and has yet to put on a really good match, but he's still young and needs to learn. I expect Bryan to retain here to continue a feud between these two down the line.

WINNER: Daniel Bryan

Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs Kaval

This match is made on Smackdown this Friday. Kaval, the winner of NXT Season 2, has been on a terrible losing streak since coming to Smackdown. He's been getting beaten constantly. Kaval has a guaranteed title shot against anyone after winning Season 2 of NXT. He has decided that he will use it at the PPV this Sunday against Ziggler. Ziggler has been IC Champ for sometime, and Kaval is a nice new challenger for him. I don't think Kaval wins the Title here. I expect him to put up a good underdog fight, scoring many near falls along the way. In the end though, I see Ziggler escaping with a win.

A match that just seems to be thrown together for no reason. The Nexus should have been involved in some kind of 5-on-5 elimiantion match. That's the point of having a big heel group on your roster. Santino is a great comedy act, but people usually don't take him seriously as a wrestler. I don't really know what to think about who wins. I could see Slater & Gabriel retaining, but I could also see them losing the title to stir up the fact that Nexus is having a bad night heading into Barrett's title match. I think I'm sticking with Gabriel & Slater here. No point in taking the titles off of them quite yet.

﻿This Smackdown match was announced on RAW. That makes perfect sense right? Again, this is a match that exposes the younger wrestlers to the PPV crowd. It gives them a chance to showcase their abilities and attempt to get them over. The one thing I don't like is that del Rio is again part of a team. He's showed in recent weeks that he is all about himself, and that he could care less what others around hin do. I much rather would have had a singles match between Alberto del Rio & Rey Mysterio, then have the RAW side of things handle the 5-on-5 elimiantion match. Hopefully Cody Rhodes and Kofi Kingston get a good showing in this match. I think out of the young guys in this match, they have the most potential down the road. Kingston appeared to be a future star at one point, but that star has faded. In the end, I expect del Rio to come out as the sole survivor. He's the future star of the show, and has the most potential down the line. Hopefully we don't get a lot of Tyler Reks either, he's just not that good.

So is the third time the charm for Natalya? She couldn't beat McCool or Layla one-on-one, so now she has to take both of them on in a handicap match. Laycool has held these titles for some quite time, and I'm sure there are a couple people out there (who care about women's wrestling), that can't wait to see Laycool finally drop the title. Not that I don't care about women's wrestling. It can be entertaining at times, but the women's division in the WWE has just been so blah for so long that it's just tough for me to care about it anymore. And at least for me, I lost almost all interest when they released Mickie James (my favorite women's wrestler) and Beth Phoenix got hurt (she's from Buffalo!). Laycool can be entertaining at times, but they can also be annoying. I'm still giving Laycool the win. Natalya can have the excuse of being distarcted by the break-up of the Hart Dynasty.

WINNER: Laycool

John Morrison vs Sheamus

This has been a pretty simple build for this match. John Morrison doesn't like Sheamus bully around Santino, so he has taken it upon himself to stick up for Santino. Sheamus seemed to back off of Morrison's challenge, until he attacked him backstage and accepted it. It should be an interesting match. Apparently these two have been having good matches on the house show circuit. Sheamus is capable of having a good match with anyone, as evident by his matches with HHH and Daniel Bryan. Morrison is a rising star who is a good match or two away from breaking into the main event. Morrison needs to work on his promo skills as well, but this PPV is about him having a good match with an already established top star. Morrsion will definitely be made to look good in this match. The WWE knows what they have in him and hopefully won't do anything to screw it up. I think it's a toss up, but I'm going with John Morrison in an upset. This mostly is due to the fact that I have almost all heels going over so far. But I think Morrison needs the win to catapult him up the main event ladder. Plus Sheamus can easily get his heat back with a surprise attack on Morrison on RAW. Either way, expect this feud to continue after Survivor Series.

WINNER: John Morrison

World Championship Match: Kane (c) vs Edge

I would have never thought Kane would hold the title for this long. He's had it now since July and has done an ok job with it. His matches with Rey Mysterio were good, and he had ok matches with the Undertaker. He's been doing a serviceable job, especially as Smackdown's top heel. Edge was his next logical opponent after the Undertaker. Edge kidnapped Kane's father, Paul Bearer, this past Friday on Smackdown. I guess WWE thinks that it adds a little bit to the rivalry between the two, which it does. ﻿They've been costing each other matches back-and-forth, and now they get to go one-on-one with each other at the PPV. I think I see Kane retaining here, leading to a ladder match between the two at the TLC PPV in December, which is Edge's specialty. But for now Kane reatins here. There's no other face on Smackdown right now worthy of facing Kane. And hopefully the WWE doesn't feel the need to torture with more Kane/Big Show matches, whether they be on TV or PPV.

This is the match the WWE hopes sells this PPV. There is so much intrigue around the match. I would recommend to everyone going out of the way to see the final segment from RAW this past Monday. Orton, Barrett, Cena, and Roddy Piper all did a great sell job for the match this Sunday. Piper's promo with Cena was a great sell of the importance of the WWE Title. For those of you who don't know the stipulations, they are as follows: John Cena must make sure Wade Barrett walks out of this match with the WWE Title, and if he does Cena is free of his Nexus duties. If Wade Barrett does not win the WWE Title, John Cena is fired. Now while the answer of what Cena will do seems obvious to normal people, for him it was the ultimate dilemna. Helping Barrett win the title goes against all of his morals as a person: Hustle, Loyalty, Respect. Cena sold the emoton of his decison really well on Monday. You know that deep down inside Cena cannot wait to take his frustations out on Barrett, and he showed just a little of what he wants to do at the end of RAW on Monday. The WWE has done a good job of re-establishing Randy Orton's importance in the match. Orton was essentially playing third fiddle in the match, but they've done a good job making him and the WWE Title seem more important.

The outcome of this match is up in the air. One thing I think is this: Wade Barrett is winning this match. The only question is how. R-Truth may play a factor. He's been sticking his nose in the business of all three of these men recently. I think a heel turn for him is inevitable. The Miz may also play a factor in the match. He still has that MITB briefcase that he can cash in. I really hope they hold off on him cashing in at Survivor Series. One theory thrown around is Barrett winning, Cena destroying Barrett, and Miz cashig in MITB. I don't like that idea. Barrett's first title win needs to be more than a few minutes. He's undoubtedly the top heel on RAW, and is way ahead of where he should be at this point in his career. The WWE could easily do a Miz/Orton feud without the title if that's where they are going. If I was booking, I'd have Cena turn here. It'd be the ultimate swerve. He could come out and say he was playing with everyone's emotions. Everyone in the WWE turned their back on him when he was forced to join the Nexus, and now he's with people who do respect him. But that's just me. I have a bad feeling in the end that the Miz scenario plays out, but I hope it doesn't. But like I said, either way, Barrett is winning this match.

WINNER: Wade Barrett

That's all for today. I'll be back with my NFL Week 11 picks tomorrow.